Fat and oil is added to powder products such as a powdered soup in order to give richness and aroma to them. Methods of adding fat and oil include a method of packing fat and oil separately from other ingredients, a method of adding a small amount of fat and oil to for example, a powdered soup, a method of allowing a powdered base to absorb fat and oil, and the like. When the powdered soup produced using these methods is dissolved in, for example, hot water, oil droplets float to the surface of the soup, thus giving rise to a pleasant aroma. In contrast, when a powdery emulsified fat and oil that is obtained by emulsifying fat and oil and an aqueous phase to produce an oil-in-water emulsion and then drying the emulsion is added to a powdered soup, it remains emulsified in the soup and gives a creamy texture and richness; however, oil droplets do not float to the surface of the soup, thus giving rise to no pleasant aroma.
Conventionally known powdery fats and oils that produce oil droplets floating to the surface of the soup include: a method for producing a powdered soup including heating a powdery system consisting of powdery saccharides or powder composed principally of saccharides and water under a heating condition that the saccharides crystallize to produce porous particles in an indeterminate form, adding liquid fat and oil to the particles and mixing them, and subsequently mixing the mixture with various ingredients for the powdered soup (Patent Literature 1); a powdery fat and oil for a soup that is produced by mixing 30 to 70% by weight of hydrogenated fat and oil based on the total weight of the product, with the hydrogenated fat and oil being powdery at normal temperatures, and a powder obtained by allowing porous starch to absorb 70 to 120% by weight of fat and oil based on the weight of the porous starch (Patent Literature 2); a method for producing a fat and oil-containing powdery saccharide including mixing 10 to 35 parts by mass of melted fat and oil obtained by heating a fat and oil with an initial melting point of 40 to 60° C. with 100 parts by mass of powdery saccharides (Patent Literature 3); and the like.
Furthermore, disclosed powdery fats and oils include, for example, a powdery fat and oil that meets the following conditions (1) to (3):
(1) that is produced by using a fat and oil with an initial melting point of 40 to 60° C.;
(2) that contains substantially no emulsifier; and
(3) that has a particle size distribution as follows: 10 to 55% by mass of particles pass through an aperture of 1840 μm and remain on an aperture of 850 μm; 35 to 85% by mass of particles pass through the aperture of 850 μm and remain on an aperture of 300 μm; and 5 to 30% by mass of particles pass through the aperture of 300 μm and remain on an aperture of 106 μm (Patent Literature 4).
However, the above-mentioned powdery fats and oils have a poor powder property during storage and are practically problematic.    [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 63-42508    [Patent Literature 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-27944    [Patent Literature 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-325548    [Patent Literature 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-13090